A plate and frame heat exchanger consists of several corrugated heat transfer plates which are clamped together between a stationary frame and a movable frame. The plates with their gaskets hang vertically from a horizontal guide bar. To ensure that the gaskets will not fall off the vertical plates during assembly and disassembly, the gaskets must be held in place prior to hanging of the plates on the guide bar.
Heat exchanger plates are generally of two types. In one type, the gaskets are held in the gasket groove by means of a continuous line of glue. In the other type, the gaskets are held in the groove by a glueless connection. One example of a glueless connection is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,204.
The present invention relates to several designs of a glueless type connection in which the gasket has integral tabs which engage on the outer side wall of the gasket groove in the plate.
In accordance with the construction described hereinafter, the heat exchanger plate has an elongated gasket groove spaced inwardly from an edge of the plate. Openings are provided in the outer side wall of the gasket groove. A gasket of flexible, compressible material has an elongated main body portion seated in the groove. Tabs integral with the main body portion project into the openings to provide a glueless connection. A tab may be inserted in an opening by either pushing the tab through the opening or pressing it downwardly into the opening.
The openings may be formed by using a pierce die on a flat metal sheet, prior to forming the sheet into a plate.
Objects of this invention include the provision of a glueless type connection which has the foregoing features, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which will permit the intermixing of the plates of this invention with existing plates having glued gaskets. Another object is to provide a method of forming openings in the outer side wall of the gasket groove in a plate.